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House Co-Sponsorship Memoranda
House of Representatives
Session of 2021 - 2022
Regular Session
MEMORANDUM
| Posted: | September 21, 2021 01:30 PM |
|---|---|
| From: | Representative Michael H. Schlossberg |
| To: | All House members |
| Subject: | Truth in Advertising: Charter School Advertising |
| Curious as to who pays for those large billboards and fancy promotional materials for charter schools? You do! Brick-and-mortar charter and cyber charter schools across Pennsylvania are using various forms of advertising to attract and recruit students to increase their enrollment, falsely advertising their services and programs as “free.” This could not be further from the truth. To promote transparency and ensure a level playing field for ALL public schools in Pennsylvania, I am introducing legislation prohibiting any public school entity from advertising instructional and transportation costs provided by the school as “free.” This legislation will require public school entities to clarify that these costs are paid for by you, the taxpayer. This step towards additional transparency is nothing new, and would be consistent with the requirement that paid advertising by state agencies include the phrase "Paid for with Pennsylvania taxpayer dollars" (Taxpayer-Funded Advertising Transparency Act, aka Act 90 of 2015). Additionally, this bipartisan proposal was adopted as an amendment to former House Bill 97 of 2017, but the bill did not receive final passage. Both House Democrats and Republicans have agreed that you deserve to know where your tax dollars are going and how they are spent. Please join me in creating an equal playing field for our public schools and creating much needed transparency for Pennsylvanians. |
Introduced as HB2014